Process of making planished sheet-iron



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

.JOI-IN sTEPHENs, on MUNoIE, INDIANA.

PROCESS OF MAKING PLANISHED SHEET-IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,595, dated June 28, 1898.

Application filed January 22, 1898. Serial No. 667,591. (No specimens.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muncie, county of Delaware, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Planished Sheet-Iron, &c.,,of which the following is a specification.

After. the sheet-bars from which the sheetiron is produced have been broken down and rolled to the desired lengths my process of finishing commences; and it consists in rolling the sheets in packs of from two to six or more sheets and without the use of coatings ordinarily used in other processessuch as charcoal, coal-dust, plumbago, oil, or greasy or fatty resinous matter. WVhen thepack is brought from the furnace, it is given two or more passes through the rolls, (but not enough to cause any sticking or embedding of one into the other and consequent breaking up and destruction of the oxid.) The plates are then separated or changed by placing them so that other and different surfaces are placed together. The pack is then replaced in the heating-furnace and heated to alow temperature (a dark-cherry red) and is then brought out, given one pass through the rolls,

the plates again changed and given one or more passes, as may be necessary, to produce sheets of the desired length. By this process of rolling sheets are produced which .are uniform in color, the original oxid is preserved, and the sheets are perfectly clean and free from all foreign substances, while in the process in general use the rolling embeds the different sheets into one another, causing them to stick tightly together, and the separating results in a breaking up of the oxid and produces iron of variegated colors, and when any of the foreign substances above mentioned are used to prevent such sticking or for the purpose of preventing a destruction of the original oxid it leaves the iron in a dirty greasy state, which cannot be entirely corrected even by washing. After the sheets have been rolled in the manner above described they are sheared or cut to the desired sizes, annealed and cold-rolled in the usual manner, and are then ready for the second stage of my process; The sheets are then plunged or immersed in vats filled with asolution composed of verdigris and paraflin-wax in proportions varying according to the condition of the iron coming from the process of annealing and cold-rolling. The finish desired in sheet-iron is of a smooth and uniform somber color, and to produce this finish and color is the object of the dipping, plunging, or immersing of the sheets in the vat above mentioned and in the one to be described. When the iron comes from the mill, it is in color a light-gray or lead color, this color being produced only in the rolling process above described. To change this color and give the iron the finish and color desired, it is first subjected to the bath abovedescribed for the space of from one to five minutes. It is then taken out, placed in-a rack or crate, exposed to the air, and allowed to remain until the combined action of the air and the chemical solution results in the change of color desired. When the sheetsthus placed in the racks or crates have been thoroughly dried, they are then placed in a secondary vat and submerged in the same manner in a solution of indigo and paraffin-wax in proportions varying according to the color produced in the first vat. If the color produced by the first submersion is not low enough or dark enough, the proportion of indigo in the solution in the second vat must be increased. The iron is allowed to remain in the last-mentioned solution from one to five minutes. After the sheet has remained in the solution the required time it is pushed forward by means of a hook or similar tool in the hands of the operator or workman and the forward end of the sheet strikes the inclined guides leading to a small set of rollers of a length corresponding with the width of the sheets, which are placed just within the forward end of the vat, the point of contact or meeting-point of said rolls being just above the level of the solution in the vat. These rolls are operated by means of a belt attached to steam or other power and are covered with paper, asbestos, duck, or other substance which will resist the action of the hot solution, the solution in both vats being heated by a tire underneath them while in use. The object of passingthe sheets through these rolls is to take from them the surplus solution in which they have been submerged, the operation being much the same as in wringing clothes. The rolls mentioned being placed just within the forward end of the vat the solution removed by the rolling operation drops back into the vat and no waste occurs. As the iron passes through the rolls, as above described, it is carried by the action of said rollers to a table, where it is submitted to a polishing process, which consists in polishing the surface of the sheets with cotton-waste, soft hemp, or other similar substance, the work being done either by hand or by any suitable machinery.

By the process herein described sheet-iron uniform in color and polish is produced which excels even the justly-celebrated Russian sheet-iron.

I olaim 1. The herein-described process of making planished sheet-iron consisting in rolling the sheets in packs, separating and changingthe sheets in the pack to present different surfaces, reheating the pack to a low temperature, changing the sheets and rerolling, sub- 

